Play yard



Oct. 8, 1940. w. H. HURLIN 2,217,223

PLAY YARD Filed March 8, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l q I g Werl' for.

Patented Oct. 8, 1940 `PATIENT OFFICE PLAY YARD" William H. Hurlin,Antrim, N. H. Application March 8, 1939, Serial No. 260,472

12 Claims.

My invention relates to play yards or pens for children and the objectthereof is to provide a novel and simple foldingy structure which willovercome the objections to play pens as heretofore constructed.

Heretofore, play yards or pens have been made with a collapsible orfoldable fence and bottom or oor sections hingedtherein at oppositesides, it being necessary to swing the floor sections upwardly andoutwardly within and against the inner faces of two opposite parallelsides, but with much difliculty in holding both sections vup at the sametime so that the other two opposite parallel sides or ends at rightangles thereto could be folded or collapsed inwardly. Owing to the factthat the oor holds the frame or fence rectangular, it follows that whenthe sections thereof are swung up, the frame would become distorted inlshape from a true rectangle andthe edges 0f the iioor sections catch onthe rungs or projections on the inside of the vframe or fence sides tointerfere with the collapsing, and this is also true when setting up orextending'the device.

The object of the present invention is to provide a play yard in whichthe fence sits on the floor instead of the floor being mounted and ttingwithin the fence, so that the fence, which is anchored to the floor, maybe readily extended cr collapsed without the objections to priorstructures as above pointed'out, and the floor which embodies anintermediate or central anchoring section and sections hinged on eachside thereof, may be swung upwardly against the outsides, that is,against the outer faces of two opposed rigid sides of the fence incollapsing the play yard or pen or downwardly and then the fenceextended thereover in anextremely simple manner.

A further object is to provide means to securely hold the play yardextended and means to hold the same in collapsed condition. 'v

Other objects and,V advantages will appear hereinafter and be'broughtoutmore fully in the follow specicatio'n, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig.r 1 is a plan View of the play yard in an open position, and showncollapsed in dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is a verticall section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 of thelower part;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the device folded vas shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation on a reduced scale;

Fig. 5 is an elevation of another side or end,

555. taken at right angles to FigJ-l'g Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentarysection taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary plan View of one end of the central oranchoring section of the floor;

Fig. 8 is a similar view of another form; and

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view of the upper rail of one end.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the play yard or pen isshown as comprising a central anchoring section I0 preferably consistingof a single elongated and relatively heavy board provided intermediatelyof its width and at each end with inwardly extending vertical slots IIhaving communicating enlargements or recesses I2 of semi-circular orother form on opposite sides `of the slots I I at the free ends thereof4in the upper portions of the central section and also formed withreduced portions forming transverse depressed seats or grooves I3 asshown more particularly in Fig. 7. As shown in Fig. 8, a shoulder orretaining wall I5 may be provided outwardly of the groove or seat I4 fora purpose to be hereinafter explained. The floor in addition toincluding the central anchoring section I0 also includes foldable sidesections I6 hinged thereto to swing to horizontal or vertical positions.These sections include parallel cleats or boards Il hinged at rightangles to the central section at their inner ends as shown at I8,.threeof such vcleats being preferably employed at the center and near theends of the floor. Floor boards I9 are nailed or otherwise secured onthese cleats, the free ends of which project beyond the boards and areprovided with transverse notches 2li at the top. Risers or feet iDa maybe provided for the central anchoring section at the ends thereof vtosupport it 01T of the floor and assist in sustaining the weight of thechild.

The play yard or pen proper has a fence portion forming an enclosuredesignated generally at 2l and having two long sides 22 consisting of'upper rails 23 and lower rails 24 which are designed to t in thenotches 20 when the sections I6 of the floor are lowered from a verticalfolded y'position to a horizontal position for use as shown in Fig. 6and to keep the sides from expanding or displacing outwardly orinwardly. Corner posts 25 may also be provided and the top and bottomrails 23 and 24 are rigidly connected 'thereto in such a manner as toprovide feet 25a vposts to act as risers so that the floor of the yardis supported off of the floor surface of a room. Rungs 26 rigidlyconnect the upper and lower 'rails and between the two widely spacedcentral j formed by the lower projecting ends of the corner f y desired.

feo

rungs, a panel 2l is provided at the bottom, -if The upper portion maybe provided with a counter consisting of horizontal wires of bars 28 andspools or beads 29 slidably mounted thereon.

The collapsible sides or ends are designated at Sil, these constitutingthe other opposed sides of the rectangular enclosure structure and eachconsisting of two sections 3l with upper and lower rails 32 and 33connected by rungs34. These sections are hinged at the center and on theoutside of the adjacent or abutting inner ends of the upper and lowerrails 32 and 33 as at 35 so as to permit the sectional foldable ends tocollapse or fold inwardly over the oor and central anchoring.

section thereof or to extend out into alignment in the folded orcollapsed and extended positions respectively of the device. The outerends of'. the upper and lower rails 32 and 33 are hinged at the insideto theA corner posts 25 as shown at 36 which in conjunction with thehinges 35 permit the ends to fold or collapse inward as described.

In order to somewhat resiliently but .firmly connect the fence or.enclosure structure of the yard or pen to be movablyl or slidablyconnected to the floor and particularly the central anchoring sectionthereof, suitable loose play connections are provided between the endsor collapsible sides 39 at the center and the oor at the anchoringsection, the same consisting of suitable metallic lstrap irons or arms38 secured to the bottom of each end 30 beneath the lower rails 33 ofone section thereof and each arm is provided with an aperture 39 to takea bolt 40 so that the latter will extend through a corresponding slot II and be held by a nut 4I threaded on the lower projecting end of eachbolt. This yprovides the main connection between the enclosure and thefloor and when the enclosure or fence is extended as .shown in fulllines in Fig. 1, the bolts ride outwardly in the slots jIl verticallythrough the central anchoringy section and the arms are provided withlugs orcurved projections, 42 to snap into the recesses I2 so as to holdthe foldable ends and the collapsible yard closure or fence extended andfrom accidentally collapsing inwardly. Suilcient play is allowed at theconnections to cause the parts to frictionally engage so that they maybe readily snapped into and out of position. That is, the lower rails 33of the ends or collapsible sides it will snap into and out of thegrooves or seats ,3 or I4 and the lower rails 24 of the rigid sides 22will snap into and out of the notches or grooves 20 near the outer orfree ends of the cleats. I'I. The ends may be additionally held by afastener 44 on the inner ,faces of the upperr rail sections of the ends,the saine being shown rin the form of hooks pivoted to one section ofeach end and engaging a pin .45 on the other Vsection of each end.VHowever, I do not wish When the rails of the ends engaging vthe groovesorl seats I3 or rIII, and the lower rails of the sides "snapping intothe notches or grooves 20, the device will be rigidly held in anextended position. In collapsing the device, these parts are disengagedand the hinged ends folded inwardly moving the bolts to the inner endsof the slots as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and moving the sides 22inwardly parallel to the long edges of and over the central anchoringsection I within said edges. The side floor sections I6 are then swungupwardly against the. sides of the yard closure or fence so that thedevice will be compactly folded to occupy a minimum of space when not inuse, thereby facilitating storage as well as transportation andhandling.

' Suitable means such as a strap 45 may be employed to' hold the yardcollapsed, the same connecting the sides or folded floor sections asshown in Fig.' 3.l 1 l While I have illustrated and described thepreferred form of construction for carrying my invention into effect,this iscapable vof variation and ymodification without departing fromthe spirit of the invention. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited tothe precise details of construction set forth, but desire to availmyself of such variations and modifications as come within the sco-pe ofthe appendedclairns.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to,`secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A play yard including a. sectional floor including an anchoringsection andside sections adapted to engage opposite sides of the fencewhen collapsed, a collapsible fence having slidable connection with theanchoringv section and means to hold the parts collapsed.

2. A play yard including a sectional floor including a central sectionand side sections hinged thereto, a fence having two opposed collapsiblesides and movably connected to the central sec-v tion of the floor tobecollapsed or extended over the floor said oor having means tov engageand hold the fence sides at the bottom when extended to retain the playyard extended.

3. A play yard including a .sectional floor including a central sectionand side sections hinged thereto, a fence having at least two opposedcollapsiblesides slidably connected to the oor, said oor having means toengage and hold the fence sides atthe bottom when extended to retain theplay yard extended, and means to hold the parts in collapsed position. Y

4. A play yard comprisingr a collapsible fence having two rigid sidesand two foldable sides hinged to the rigid .sides and comprisingsections hinged to each other, a oor including an anchoring section andoppositely foldable.l Aside sections hinged thereto, and means. toslidablyl connect the hinged sections of the fence to the anchoringsection to move in and out to collapsed and extended positions. o. Y .i

5. VA play yard comprising 'a collapsible 'fence having two rigid sidesand' two foldable sides hinged to the rigid sides 'and comprisingsections hinged to each other, a floor including an lanchoring sectionand oppositely foldable side lsections hinged thereto, mea-nstofslidably -conneet the hinged sections of the fence te the -anchoringsection to move in and out to collapsed and extended positionsVand .saidlicor having seats into and out of which the bottom portions of thefence sections snap when extended or collapsed. x i,Y n

6. A play yard including `a .floor comprising a central section andsections hingedv to opposite sides thereof, a collapsible fence restingon the floor and sliding connections between the co1- lapsible portionsof the fence at the bottom and the floor to hold the oor and fenceextended and whereby the same may be collapsed.

'7. A play yard including a floor comprising a central section andsections hinged to opposite sides thereof, a collapsible fence restingon the floor, means to slidably connect thefence to the central section,and means to retain the fence on the floor in extended or collapsedcondition.

8. A play yard including a sectional oor comprising a central sectionand side sections hinged to opposite edges thereof to swing upwardly, afence having two o pposed collapsible sides slidably connected to thecentral section to move inwardly or outwardly with respect to the endsthereof, means to bind the fence in either position, said fence beingsupported entirely above the floor and on the floor at two opposed sidesand means to hold the fence open.

9. A play yard including a collapsible fence, a sectional floorcomprising a central anchoring section and side sections hinged thereto,slidable connections between the fence and central section, said sidesections adapted to fold up against two opposed sides of the fence atthe outside when the fence is collapsed, and means to hold the partsextended.

10. In a play yard having a collapsible fence with two hinged sidesections, a oor comprising a central supporting section and sectionscollapsibly connected at opposite edges thereof and means to retain thehinged side sections in association with the central supporting sectionwhen the fence is extended or collapsed, the sections of the floorconnected to the supporting section adapted to move against opposedsides of the fence when the latter is collapsed.

11. In a play yard, a floor for fences having two opposed collapsiblesides and two opposed rigid sides, said oor comprising a central sectionand sections hinged to opposite sides thereof, said central sectionhaving movable means of connection with the opposed collapsible sides ofthe fence whereby the latter is retained in operative connection withthe central section when co1- lapsed or extended.

l2. A1 play yard including a sectional floor comprising three hingedsections, a collapsibley fence having opposed pairs of sides hingedlyconnected at the corners, two of said sides being rigid, two of saidsides being oldable inwardly over a section of the floor and havingmovable connection therewith, the other sections of the floor adapted toswing upwardly against the rigid sides when the fence is collapsed, andmeans to hold the parts collapsed.

WILLIAM H. HURLIN.

